Started out roller skiing at Hyland after what I thought was my last ski of the year Monday. As I went past the 5k man made loop I noticed 3-4 feet of crusty snow. Put on the snow skis. It is still doable. It would have been great had they not run the piston bully tracks on the last day that they cut a few trees. It is very uneven and dirty, but better than roller skiing. A quick snowmobile and sled run might give us a few more weeks. It was still firm in the afternoon sun.

Photos:

(Scott Engstrom)

I never thought I'd post a ski report so late in April but here it is. Biking through highland needed to cross the man made trail. Looks like there is still plenty of snow for some spring skiing. No tracks set, but the trail looked pretty flat.

Photos:

(Scott Greymont)

After skiing Wirth this morning (very nice; groomed; icy but softening up), I headed to Hyland to give it a try. Skied the Lake trail his morning, not so great today. You definitely needed rock skis as the beginning of the trail has a 25 yard section of soft wood chips . The trail also twice crosses a paved bike trail. Skied (skate) the Frogtown loop which was not groomed and had crusty snow. It certainly made me appreciate the efforts of the groomers. There is a deep base on the ungroomed man-made trails and that snow should be around for awhile; just saying.

(Geir Johansen)

Skate skied the Lake trail Thursday morning and was amazed at the very good conditions! Aside from a couple bare spots, the trail had great snow coverage and was very skiable. Ended up doing five loops on the 3.3 k trail from 930 am to 1145 am. However, by afternoon conditions were changing and the snow softened considerably. Still, with beautiful blue sky and the warm sun (high of 53 F), an amazing spring skiing experience today. Who would have thought this possible on April 19th?! Probably a much different experience by late Thursday afternoon into Friday. Thanks to Sonja Bercich, the groomers, and the rest of her terrific staff for an outstanding xc ski season at Hyland Lake Park Reserve. This truly is a first class operation!

(Paul Spika)

Pulled into the parking lot at 7:15 am and not a car was in sight. So I was pretty worried about trail conditions, but the lake trail was surprisingly skiable! Icy in spots, and one pretty bad spot that I had to snow plow to and then carefully go around the edge. Other than that I had a great ski. Crust skiing was amazing as well!

(Anita Burg)

Lake Trail is packed not tracked and in good-fair Condition. Lights off. No Rentals. No pass needed. Visitor Center open 9am-5pm.

(Sonja Bercich, Three Rivers Park District)

Skated before lunch. Conditions were just as good as Wirth. Only the lake and a section of trail going towards the grooming shed is open, for about 4km of relatively flat skate deck. Not much of classic track. Should be okay tonight under the lights after dark, and excellent tomorrow morning (assuming they groom).

(Andor Langski)

Rolled around the lake. Not real even so they must have rolled it once over deep snow. But it's mid-April -later than I've ever seen any grooming in these parts - so I'm skiing and not complaining!

(Pete Thurmes)

Solid! No tracks but good solid rolled trail around the lake. A skis would be fine for now. I'm going back out to skate, which should work a little better. Snow is nicely packed and not at all slushy anywhere except one small low spot that's easy to get around.

(Pete Thurmes)

Lake Trail is open; packed and in good condition for skating. Lights on until 10 pm. XC Ski Pass not needed. No rentals. Visitor Center Hours 9am - 5pm.

(Sonja Bercich, Three Rivers Park District)